Practical Ways Of Coping With Dual Diagnosis

By Thelma Kent


For locals of California dual diagnosis refers to a psychiatric illness that coexists with an addiction. It makes healing from both conditions more difficult, but recovery is possible. There are some crucial things to think about so that a good foundation is laid that gives the patient the best chance at full recovery.

The first problem to solve is deciding which issue to focus on first. Initially, when the person is in active addiction with an unstable psychiatric condition, it's important to avert the crisis using intervention. However recovery from addiction is close to impossible when the patient has an active psychiatric condition. Stabilization must happen first.

The best way of dealing with this crisis is to have the person admitted to inpatient psychiatric care. Here, substances will be physically removed but care will happen around stabilizing the person psychiatrically. Afterwards, a rehabilitation program for addiction can begin, which is best done in an inpatient addiction facility.

It's extremely dangerous to place a psychiatrically unstable patient into rehabilitation for addiction. The initial addiction recovery process is extremely challenging, and the patient is unlikely to cope. It is possible to circumvent the process of placing a patient into both psychiatric unit and rehab. There are rehabilitation centers that specialize in patients with coexisting psychiatric illness, and an adequate one can treat both diseases simultaneously.

It's crucial that much research is done before choosing a facility. Many rehabilitation centers advertise that they can cope with psychiatric patients when they really can't. The family of the patient needs to make sure that the facility has trained psychiatric staff on hand and that the center is indeed specialized.

After the initial crisis has passed, it's important that the patient maintain a good recovery program while also seeing a psychiatrist regularly. It's best if these two work together, so the doctor must integrate a recovery program into therapy. For patients in California dual diagnosis treatment performed by a psychiatrist who specializes in addiction is the best choice.




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